Buried Secrets

Magnimar, a city filled with crime and oppitunity. The players each have an issue, most of them being plagued with nightmares of the city in flames and others having more personal problems. The one man with all the answer, the notorious Irthir.

I am opening a re-recruitment for my homebrew, Buried Secrets. The homebrew is set in Magnimar and has it's own story and events going on, however I also incorperate the player's backgrounds into the story with bringing in ideas for possible redemption and other things devised from your backstory.

Set up:

Magnimar, City of Monuments. It brings in all kinds of travellers, from scholars to study the ruins to hardened adventurers who wish to dive into the great Irespan in search of treasures. Many of these things or possibly more has brought you to the city.

The group are in contact with a mysterious man named Irthir. He deals with a lot of behind-the-scenes activities in Magnimar, but so far has not asked the group to do anything evil or unethical. If anything, he has been helping clear up the city and rid it of evil so far. He can get anyone, anything, but he doesn't deal with slavery, nor murder of innocents.

For one reason or another you may have searched for him through your contacts or choices. Either to gain work, information or whatever you can imagine.

Traits:

Start with 2 traits. One campaign (either one below or from another campaign that goes with your backstory) and another non-campaign trait.

Blood of Ancients: You have ancient and powerful blood running through your body. No matter your ancestor, you choose your own path, but you gain a boon from the strength of your ancestors. It may have manifested itself since birth or late teens, but either way you feel that you are destined for greatness.

Azlanti: Somewhere far in your past your ancestors were part of the great and ancient human race known as the Azlanti, who managed to escape the initial destruction of Earthfall. You have a natural skill with all things magical. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Spellcraft as you appear to understand all spells on a subconscious level.

Dire Corby: Your blood once crossed with the Dire Corby, bird-like humanoids that it was said once lived on the surface before being driven into the Darklands just as the Serpentfolk were. You have had many dreams of flying, more than the average person. You gain a +2 trait bonus to fly, which increases to +4 if the character gains wings.

Serpentfolk: Your ancestors mixed with the Serpentfolk, most likely as slaves that produced offspring or some kind of experiment in mixing the two species. You have an affiliation with serpents and reptiles, and can cast Speak With Animals at will to converse with such creatures (including various forms of dinosaurs, lizards, and other cold-blooded creatures). In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on the initial save to resist a poison.

Thassilonian: The lords of Thassilon decided that the lesser races should be allowed to practice magic just as the Azlanti do, however the civilisation fell into decadence and those that were there have been scatters, most likely either as Varisians or Shoanti tribes, both of who practice their own kind of magic. Your ancestor might have been one of the "lesser races" or an Azlanti who lives in Thassilonian. Because of your Affiliation with magic you gain a +1 trait bonus to one sub school (such as compulsion or polymorph).

Missing Colleague/Friend/Partner: You know someone who went to Magnimar to study the monuments of Magnimar as they appear to have become recently charged, though no one knows why. Your colleague went ahead of you to investigate this but has not returned your messages for several weeks and has gone missing from their inn room leaving no trace. From your study you gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (history) checks made in Varisia due to your familiarity with its historical remnants. This bonus increases to +2 if the check relates to the city of Magnimar. Additionally, you gain a +2 trait bonus on any skill check made to receive a boon from one of Magnimar’s magically imbued monuments.

Omen: You one night have a vision of Magnimar in fire. You were then plagued with visions, yet retain no memory of them but you get a sense of Dejavu. Because of this you gain a +1 to initiative and reflex saves.

Child of a Hero: Varisia breeds many heroes in its history and you are the child of one of these many heroes who have travelled the lands and killed impending threats to Varisia and Golarian. That greatness has been passed to you, whether you ever knew your parent or not doesn't matter as they have passed down their greatness to you. You gain a masterwork breastplate and a +1 trait bonus to diplomacy within Varisia, due to the high standing of your parent or parents.

Character Creation:

Level: The characters are now 4th level
Ability Scores: 15 point buy
Alignment: Any non-evil welcome.
Hit Points: Max at first level, then average every level afterwards.
Classes: Core + APG + UM + UC and other Pathfinder sources
Starting Wealth: Average for your level, but note that this is a normal level of magic in this pathfinder world, so magic items will be available at markets, but artifacts and incredibly powerful items will be hard to come by for example, you won't find anyone selling a intelligent magic item.

Races:

Almost any race, apart from those with HD for obvious reasons, but as stated earlier it's better if it's tied into the backstory. For example, why would your character be a Kitsune that travelled all this way? Maybe a slave who broke free either by themselve, Ithir or someone else.

Spells, Equipment and Feats: Like classes, everything from offical paizo is allowed.

A few ground rules because I've had bad experiences with party members arguing and going at each other’s throats over the split of treasure and so on so please read these rules before applying. If you complain later, don’t say I never stated them.

Treasure: This will be done as fair as possible with a system that I have found has worked flawlessly.
The sale value of items and combined value of coins gem's etc. comes to 3000 gold pieces.

Each player gets 500 gold to claim out of it.

Player X wants item Y, which costs 1,000 gold.

He takes the item, and everyone else gets 400 gold. He then 'owes' the additional 500 gold out of his next treasure share; simply put, he takes 500 less from the next share, without having to pay gold back in.

This means people can claim what they like and it works out balanced and fair to everyone. As long as loot keeps coming in it works.

Everything else are forum rules, don’t be a pain and argue out of character, so on and so forth, yadda, yadda. We’re all grownups so I think you know the rest.

Application: I don’t need to see numbers for a character, but I put my stock in backstory. This is not a “first come, first serve” deal so please take your time with a backstory and how it ties into your traits, race and everything. I want to know why your character came here, what they’re after and what is their reason for seeking the mysterious Irthir? Not to mention what this person can get them that they have been unable to obtain information about.

I was originally thinking of running 6 players so I'll need three more, possibly 4 players to re-fill the slots. Whilst the recruitment is going on I'm going to devise a way for you to make an appearance.

An envoy – of all things. La'vriel sighs again, like so many times in his life. Then he continues mumbling to himself, half loud and more to the vial in front of him than to anyone else, for of course he is alone again. Envoy to get rid of me. Like most times of my life. Well, at least that loneliness would change. After 10 days at sea, crossing the Arcadian Ocean, landfall in Magnimar is imminent. The City of Monuments, with many times more inhabitants than the whole Ironbound Archipelago together, let alone his own little island. But most of them his enemy, the seed of Azlant. If that kin of my father won't kill me at first sight. And if no aquatic Gelantinous Cube will eat me before I arrive. Or were there none in Varisia? Someone had mentioned those oozes only existed at the shores of his home island, a parting curse of Azlant, but before La'vriel could find out more, he was detected and chased away with some well thrown stones. They don't like him at home, he doesn't belong there, they made that clear abundant times.
La'vriel – mistake. Failure. His name has many layers in the elven language, non of them even bordering on nice. As if it had been his mistake or failure that his mother had spoiled her pure blood with human mud. Fallen for his fiendish azlantic spells, most likely. At least she could have been so nice not to make it so obvious, La'vriel mumbeled, looking at his reflection in the glass of the vial. If only his ears would have been longer, his chin more elegant, without those hairs he carefully removed every morning. The chin was hidden behind his mask mostly, of course, but still.
La'vriel shakes his head to chase the bad thoughts away. You have to concentrate on the future! he reminds himself. Being an envoy to the humans of Thassilonia, that colonie of hated Azlant. Or had that part of their empire fallen and drowned, too? I'm not sure... they could have given me some informations at least. They had not even given me papers, or gold. There is no house waiting for me. If I am an envoy of the Mordant Spire... his thoughts trail away. I'm an exile with a nice job describtion, a shame send away to die. La'vriel always had been proud in his talent for studying, for investigating, but this one was so obvious a Gelatinous Cube would have figured that one out.
But all that envoy-thing is but one reason for being here.
No one had cared where to send him, obviously most important was him being away. Magnimar had been his own choice.
He hadn't dared to tell anybody about the reason for the City of Monuments, not that anyone would have listened anyway. The reason was bottled in the vial before him. That was supposed to be a mutagen... but something had gone wrong. He had examined the potion afterwards, of course. It was something new, more akin to dream tea. And it had given him visions, strong visions. Visions of doom, visions he couldn't comprehend, for all his knowledge, all his studies, all his investigations. I'm useless. La'vreiel shakes his head once more, tightens his grip on his longspear, which had fended off so many of his folk back on the Mordent Spire. Still I have to try.
Try to find that man so prominent in his dreams, that Irthir...
Why do I even know his name?Shalarat Thassilon! He hears an elven voice calling out. The coast of Thassilon. Magnimar. Home of the enemy. Home of his destiny. And no home at all. Exile.

And so, since his ship had thrown him overboard a few miles north of Magnimar, La'vriel the Failure, Investigator, half elf, half human with an Azlanti trait, a bastard of Golarion, envy of the Mordent Spire, enters the City of Monuments on foot, with wet clothes and not much more, looking for a name and an explaination for his disturbing dreams...

Born into the secretive Shadowscale tribe of kobolds, Kikiri grew up learning the art of ninjitsu from those around him, as was custom. According to his tribe's history, long ago, an extremely rare obsidian dragon gifted the Shadowscales with the ninja arts, and was so good at them, none have found her again to this day. The Shadowscales use their nigh-mystical techniques to protect themselves and their warren with ruthless efficiency. And they receive their "missions" when the tribe elders experience visions, supposedly given to them by the obsidian dragon herself.

However, a while ago, Kikiri began experiencing visions of his own. The sight of a city in flames and the name "Magnimar" continually ringing in his ears upon waking up. After several nights of the same dream, he brought it before his elders, who discussed it amongst themselves. After much debate, the elders returned to tell Kikiri that the unusual nature of his dream must be a special vision gifted to him by the obsidian dragon. As a result, he should seek out this city and investigate it, with the understanding that he should be on the lookout for anything weird or out of the ordinary.

After packing and many days of travel, Kikiri has arrived quietly in the city of Magnimar, and has begun investigating a series of events that have been occurring around town recently. A strange group of individuals seem to be turning up at every corner, and Kikiri believes they may have something to do with his visions.

Personality:

Kikiri's training has made him quiet, observant and reclusive to all, but his own kind. He is quick to react to danger and almost always has a weapon hidden somewhere in case of trouble. Kikiri doesn't speak much, and when he does, it's generally no nonsense and to the point, but he does enjoy company for what it's worth - he is fond of simply listening to others speak their minds, and as such, although he may not show it, Kikiri is a great confidante and good for speaking openly about what plagues the mind. Kikiri is faithful to his tribe and the kingdom he calls home, and would sooner off himself than give up secrets about either. Thankfully, his knack for getting out of trouble typically prevents such situations from occurring.
In battle, Kikiri often appears to have abandoned the fight, when in reality he is merely hiding and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He prefers to keep at a distance, but if an opportunity to floor a foe presents itself, he is often the first to rush in and deal the crucial blow. Aside from his more mystical ninja arts, Kikiri has a habit of tinkering with things to assist where his ninjitsu would normally not get him past, and when given downtime, can be found fumbling with something he's been hiding on his person.

I have had an idea for a Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade)/Arcanist (Blade adept)/Elritch Knight build. Aasimar for the early entry. He would have the Missing colleague trait, being a scholar of some ability, and I think it likely that it would be a love interest (he is a swashbuckler after all - perhaps I should call him Westley aka the dread pirate Roberts, lol).

The Ancient Blood is linked to the few below, though I could've brought it out a bit better.

Basically the choice of:

Azlanti: Somewhere far in your past your ancestors were part of the great and ancient human race known as the Azlanti, who managed to escape the initial destruction of Earthfall. You have a natural skill with all things magical. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Spellcraft as you appear to understand all spells on a subconscious level.

Dire Corby: Your blood once crossed with the Dire Corby, bird-like humanoids that it was said once lived on the surface before being driven into the Darklands just as the Serpentfolk were. You have had many dreams of flying, more than the average person. You gain a +2 trait bonus to fly, which increases to +4 if the character gains wings.

Serpentfolk: Your ancestors mixed with the Serpentfolk, most likely as slaves that produced offspring or some kind of experiment in mixing the two species. You have an affiliation with serpents and reptiles, and can cast Speak With Animals at will to converse with such creatures (including various forms of dinosaurs, lizards, and other cold-blooded creatures). In addition, you gain a +1 trait bonus on the initial save to resist a poison.

Thassilonian: The lords of Thassilon decided that the lesser races should be allowed to practice magic just as the Azlanti do, however the civilisation fell into decadence and those that were there have been scatters, most likely either as Varisians or Shoanti tribes, both of who practice their own kind of magic. Your ancestor might have been one of the "lesser races" or an Azlanti who lives in Thassilonian. Because of your Affiliation with magic you gain a +1 trait bonus to one sub school (such as compulsion or polymorph).

As the choice for the blood. Your species doesn't have to be any scaleykind to have serphentfolk somewhere in your blood so there is no restriction there, just a bit of flavour that one of your ancestors was possibly related to one of these races.

Are Racial Archtypes race locked? I have an idea for a Reincarnated Oracle who was an Azlanti priestess ~15-20 lifetimes ago. Every few centuries she wakes up in the body of a young human woman, with a mental compass pointing her somewhere she may be needed. Her Tongues curse would be ancient Azlanti, but she doesn't really remember much from that time. If not, I have a few other ideas floating around.

Are Racial Archtypes race locked? I have an idea for a Reincarnated Oracle who was an Azlanti priestess ~15-20 lifetimes ago. Every few centuries she wakes up in the body of a young human woman, with a mental compass pointing her somewhere she may be needed. Her Tongues curse would be ancient Azlanti, but she doesn't really remember much from that time. If not, I have a few other ideas floating around.

That's perfectly fine. I'm very open to the different races as mentioned above and I'm really more interested in backstory than build. The way I'm running the campaign is that there is a overaching story, but there will be situations that I may involve your backstory.

A example would be where in my KM game the Bard had become the ruler of the kingdom, but I had him recieve a note stating "I know who you are. Come here and meet me, old friend." which was not in the campaign at all, but his backstory was that he ran with criminals before killing someone who was meant to have gone to the Stolen Lands and he basically used his invite and now these people had returned.

Another example would be, as Noah Antwiler (AKA Spoony) once said about this being a effective technique to keep players interested is a player could be searching for a man with six fingers on his hand and when interrogating someone, he mentions that he took orders from a man with six fingers.

They may not play a big part in the rest of the story or may not be involved in other things that are going on at all, but you may end up crossing paths with them.